What looks like a glorious local grocery store is actually, more and more with each passing year, a form of rebellion, a forefront in the fight to keep Santa Cruz more…Santa Cruz.
Andre Beauregard, 42, the hands-on owner-operator behind that Shopper’s Corner store in Midtown Santa Cruz, understands the city about as well as anyone.
He grew up biking and surfing along the Westside, playing hide-and-seek at Lighthouse Field State Beach, and romping with his siblings and dogs—and riding motorcycles—around his family’s vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Meanwhile he was helping his family at Shopper’s, which involves interacting with hundreds of fellow residents, and tracking how the area’s small local business identity has eroded.
His wife, Julia is the daughter of famous surfer/shaper Joey Thomas and her uncle is big wave legend Richard Schmidt. They have three kids Brandon, Elioise and James aged 8-13.
“At one point, Santa Cruz was adamant about not letting chains in town,” he says. “Santa Cruz had the idea that they wanted to keep it weird and unique. That went away. At one point they decided big corporations were a priority.”
He feels the effects on a visceral level, but uses it as fuel.
“I hate driving through town and seeing empty storefronts,” he says. “If we didn’t have greedy ‘super’ stores, maybe that would be different, which is part of why we want to focus on quality first, and giving local up-and-comers a chance. If we’re not going to, who is?”
These days there are highly visible details that illustrate that ethic, and the abiding uniqueness of Shopper’s Corner, especially as chains proliferate around it.
Note the tidal wave of born-in-Santa-Cruz items—think Companion and Beckmann’s baked goods, Marianne’s Ice Cream, Gizdich pies and jams.
Or the small army of butchers—aprons and smiles and neck ties in place, customers’ names on their lips—ready to fill an order.
Or the vino selection so attentively stocked that the Wine Enthusiast lists the grocery store as a buying destination.
And, with the holidays upon us, the benevolent overload of seasonal decorations.
“We really go for it to deck out the store with small town charm,” Beauregard says. “Customers get sentimental—it reminds them of their childhoods—and it almost brings tears. And every year [we] get slightly more carried away.”
The single most compelling detail, though, might be S.C.’s “Weekly Specials” flier. (OK, that’s cheating, because the homespun circular packs about 77 details into one page.)
There are surprisingly strong deals from the cheese aisle, bakery, produce section, butcher shop.
There’s a rundown of the Good Times readers’ votes Shopper’s Corner wins with the steadiness of the tides—Best Cheese Selection, Best Wine Selection, Best Butcher Shop and Best Green Business, among others.
The store was also picked BEST GROCERY by Growing Up in Santa Cruz readers!
There’s a recipe (lemon garlic swordfish!) or a seasonal deal (Diestel turkeys for Thanksgiving, with Pinots and red blends to pair!) on the left side.
Then there are Shopper’s Spotlights along the bottom, regular earnest-and-easygoing testimonials from customers with their own stories, tips and shopping list favorites.
“I feel sometimes the world is just so crazy at Shopper’s you know you’re going to get good service,” says 30-year customer Ashley Garcia of Watsonville in a recent Weekly Specials, while shouting out the pasta, produce and Mary’s chicken. “I feel like we need more of that friendliness.”
The most important detail, meanwhile, is invisible. It’s a belief that seems surprising coming from a third generation owner-operator like Beauregard, who learned the grocery craft from his dad, who in turn learned it from his dad: Andre genuinely believes this whole homespun operation doesn’t belong to him, or his family.
“I don’t feel like it’s my store,” he says. “It was Santa Cruz’s for 50 years before I was born.”
That ideal is evident in the interactions at the checkout register, or the deli counter, or on the floor where employees are ever present and Beauregard lives for customer feedback (“I appreciate the ‘bad’ feedback the most because I can fix it!” he says).
The general vibe would feel like a corny Hallmark movie—holiday decor aside—if it wasn’t so authentic, and hadn’t been happening since pre-World War II (1938 to be exact).
“We’re proud of the fact we’re a store that’s been passed through generations,” Andre says. “Everyone who works here feels that it’s not just a grocery store, but a slice of shared Santa Cruz history, and everyone I work with gets jazzed by the challenge of improving however we can.”
While Shopper’s Corner embraces its old-school Santa Cruz identity, it also honors a progressive city’s evolution. It’s one of the first grocery stores in the state to earn green certification from the California Green Business Network—and is working toward the Green Innovator Tier.
SC earned its certification seven years ago by doing things like upgrading refrigeration, managing food scraps, installing 270 solar panels, limiting energy use and collaborating with its vendors on best sustainable practices.
The big picture impact extends to more subtle decisions too, including the choice to defer to neighbors like The Flower Shack or The Buttery to provide flowers and coffee, respectively
“A lot of people throw around, ‘We’re your local Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s,’ but what they’re missing is caring for the businesses around us,” Beauregard says. “Our focus isn’t solely on the bottom line. It’s not taking the biggest slice you can. It’s considering the well-being of the town. There’s enough for everyone. It’s about all of us.”
Office Manager Vicki Chaney ranks among many staffers who bring both decades of Shopper’s Corner experience—across three generations of Beauregards—and an abiding affection for the spirit of place.
“Everywhere you go—the deli, the meat department, checkout—we’re getting our work done and having a good time doing it,” she says. “Our staff has been here a long time, know our customers, and customers know them.”
The Beauregards’ quintessential Santa Cruz identity extends beyond the store. Two of the region’s most iconic industries, sailing and winemaking, are also family trades.
The family takes locals and visitors alike out on the Chardonnay sailboat, and Andre’s brother Ryan cultivates their dad’s dream of a thriving vineyard, on land their great grandpa purchased in the 1940s.
Ryan moved over to the vineyard after working at Shopper’s because of a shared passion with his pops, fellow viticulturist Jim—who is going on his 61st vintage, and 62 estate acres planted—and because it was enough work on its own.
“My dad’s always been a multitasker, always taking on an extraordinary amount of projects,” Ryan says. “Myself, I just do the winery. It keeps me busy.”
Ryan adds that there’s a legacy in the soil similar to what’s happening on the corner: Decades from now Jim will be known for establishing the Ben Lomand wine AVA, naming a place where individuals can grow grapes with character specific to Santa Cruz.
“I don’t know another person who’s done that, and has been working in winemaking for as long either,” Ryan says.
Working hard, and happily, to perpetuate something uniquely Santa Cruz. That sounds on brand.
More at shopperscorner.com
By Mark C. Anderson
